Electrically-heated garment



B. BIRKENFELD.

ELECTRICALLY HEATED GARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18. I918.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

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B. BIRKENFELD.

ELECTRICALLY HEATED GARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I3, I918.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

Application am June 1a, 1910. and I0. 240,052.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN Bmxmrrnno, a citizen of the United Statesresiding at New York, in the county of N ew York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrically-HeatedGarments, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to an electrically heated garment, and whilesusceptible of a variety of uses, is more especially designed to beapplied as an outer garment or protecting covering whereby to impart tothe wearer sufficient warmth to withstand cold and inclemency of theweather.

It is a recognized fact that in the art of flying considerablediscomfiture and suffering is oftentimes encountered by the airman,especially those of the flying machine corps of the army and navyservice, in v1e w of the necessity of the airman remaining in the airfor prolonged periods of time and where the atmospheric conditions aresuch as to at times benumb the limbs or other portions of the bodybecause of extreme cold. I his circumstance is exceedingly dangerous notonly to the aviator himself, but important events and lives of manyoftentimes depend upon the aviator maintaining complete and energeticcontrol of all of his faculties at all times, and while the presentinvention, as above suggested is applicable to wide usage in variousarts, it is one of the primary objects of the invention to provide agarment which may be readily slipped over the clothing or uniform of theaviator, whereby at all times, he will be thoroughly protected andsubjected to warmth, and whereby the degree of warmth may be regulatedto a nicety according to conditions encountered.

More particularly the invention includes a garment comprislng a bodypart, leg sections, arm sections and a hood section, the said sectionspreferably being detachable one from the other if desired, and the legand arm sections conveniently having parts to overlie portions or all ofthe feet and hands of the operator, and all of such parts or sectionshaving associated therewith suit able electric heating means, asinterwoven wires, with suitable switching mechanism whereby the electriccurrent is caused to heatone or more of said sections at will, asdesired.

Novel details in the construction and arrangement of the various partsof the invention will be appreciated from the description to follow,which, for a clear understanding of the invention is to be considered inconnection with the accompan ing drawings, wherein is disclosed for t epurpose of illustration, a convenient and satisfactory embodiment of theinvention, though in this connection it is to be borne in mind thatobvlous changes may be made in minor details, wiring, electricalconnections etc. and still be within the spirit and contemplation of theinvention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is" a front elevation of the arment made in keeping with theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating more particularly the interiormake-up of the garment;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views;

Vvith more particular reference to the drawings wherein like referencenumerals refer to corresponding parts throu hout the several views 1 isa body portion 0 the garment, 2 arm sections which may have handcovering parts 3, 4 leg sections connected at 5 and conveniently havingfoot covering parts 6, and 7 a hood section adapted to overlie the headof the operator, the hood being preferably cut away at the front toexpose the face.

he sections of the garment thus described are preferably detachablyconnected, and a novel means of connection takes the form of a series ofsockets and plugs, certain of which may be energized electrically andconstitute means of electric connection between the sections of thegarment.

While it is obvious that the material which goes to make up the garmentmay vary to suit the desires of the designer or operator, as forinstance cotton, linen, silk, woolen, leather, rubber or fiber, or amixture or combination of any of these mate rials, in the preferredembodiment of the invention the outer portion or layer of the garmentshould be of non-conducting or waterproofing material or have a waterproof coating.

The outer layer of material is generally indicated in Fig. 3 by thereference numeral 8, whereas an inner layer of material 9 has associatedtherewith suitable heating means, preferably taking the form of a seriesof heating coils of insulated wire woven directly into the fabricaccording to efficient and advantageous methods of weav-- of therespective sections, and to this endv the body portion 1 of the garmentmay be provided with electric socket portions 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16.The arm sections 2 have suitable electric plugs 11 and 12 re-.spectively to engage the sockets 11 and 12, and connected with the plugs11 and 12 are the terminals of the conducting wires 12 interwoven in thearm sections. The hood section is provided with the heating coils 7 theterminals of which are connected to the plugs l3 and 13 which latter areadapted to electrically connect with the sockets l3 and 14. The legsections are provided with the heating coils 4 terminals of whichconnect with the sockets 15 and 16 adapted to electrically connect withthe sockets 15 and 16.

A belt 17 of suitable material is adapted to be applied to the body part1 at the point of juncture of the latter with the leg sections 14l, andsaid belt conveniently carries means of connection with the source ofelectric current, which may be a battery or generator for instance orthrough the medium of means of dry cells and the like connected directlyto the belt, and carried thereby.

The belt conveniently carries the main switch diagrammaticallyillustrated at 18,

the same adapted to connect the socketsv 1516 as desired, which latterconstitute the terminals for the heating wiringl of the body portion ofthe garment.

From the description thus far it will be appreciated that when therespective plugs .and sockets are in engagement and the switch operatedso as to close the circuit, the current will continuously pass throughthe wire interwoven in all of the sections of the garment. It isdesirable however, to provide means whereby one or more of the sectionsmaybe cut out electrically as desired, and to this end suitable switchesmay be interposed at any convenient point as upon the belt 18 proper, oras illustrated diagrammatically a separate switch may be provided ateach of the points of electrical connection between the sections, one ofsuch switches being diagrammatically illustrated at 19, the same beingconstructed and arranged in a manner obvious to those skilled in the artwhereby to cause the current to pass from the wiring 1* and throughcause said current to be cut off from the arm sections, and continuebetween the sockets 11, 12 and thence through the other sections of thegarment. In this connection it is not necessary to illustrate a switchat each point of connection between the sections of the garment thoughit is to be borne in mind that such switches are preferably employed.

The binding posts, plugs and sockets, switches and other details may beof any approved type and vary to suit the desires of the operator.

There is an advantage in forming various portions of the garment inections, considering the use to which the invention is likely to be put,namely in the aviation service of the army, since it is desired at timesto quickly obtain access to a part of the body, without waiting toremove the entire garment,-and without question it may be desired attimes to have the arms and legs free from any covering in the operationof the machine, when extreme cold temperature-is not to be encountered.For instance, ifit is only desired to maintain the body portion andchest in a heated condition, the limb sections as well as the hood maybe removed when the body portion 1 will constitute in eiiect an outersweater, the sweater imparting the desired increased warmth through themedium of the electrical connections. By disengaging the plug and socketconnections between the sections the sections are detached and theelectric connections simultaneously broken. When on the other hand theplugs and sockets are connected the electric connections areautomatically established.

What I claim is:

1. An electrically heated garment comprising a body section and a limbsection having associated therewith a series of heating coils, meanswhereby electric current may pass through the heating coils of the bodysection and limb section simultaneously, and means for cutting out thecurrent from one or both of said sections as desired without removingthe sections.

2. In an electrically heated garment, the combination of a body section,arm sections and leg sections, the armsections having directly connectedhand covering parts, and the leg sections having directly connected footcovering parts, and means for passing electric current through all ofsaid sections and parts.

3. In an electrically heated garment, the combination of a body section,arm sections and leg sections, the arm sections having hand coveringparts, and the leg sections having foot covering parts, means forpassing electric current thr g all of said sections and parts, andassociated means for cutting out the current from one or more of saidsections as desired without displacing the sections.

4:. In an electrically heated garment, the combination of a bodysection, limb sections and a hood section, electric wiring interwoven inthe material comprising the sections constituting a heating means, andmeans for passing the current-through different sections of said wiringto heat one or more of said sections independently or together whilemaintaining the various sections in normal relative positions.

5. In an electrically heated garment, the combination of a body section,limb sections and a hood section, all of said sections being detachablyconnected one to the other, electric wiring interwoven in the materialcomprising the sections constituting a heating means, and means forpassing the current through said wires to heat one or more of saidsections independently or together.

6. In an electrically heated garment, the combination of a bodysection,limb sections, a hood section, all of said sections being connecteddirectly together whereby to constitute continuations one of the other,electric wiring interwoven in the material comprising the sectionsconstituting a heating means, means for passing the current through saidwires to heat one or more of said sections independently ortogetherwithout disengaging any of said sections.

7 In an electricgarment, the combination of a body part and limb parts,a belt adaptedto be applied to the body part, electric connections forthe belt adapted to receive current from any suitable source, anelectric wiring for the respective sections of the garment, and a switchoperatively associated with the belt for connecting the wiring of thesections with the source of current.

8. In an electric garment, the combination of a body part and limbparts, a belt adapted to be applied to thebody part, electricconnections for the belt adapted to receive cur rent from any suitablesource, electric wiring for the respective sections of the garment, aswitch operatively associated with the belt for connecting the wiring ofthe sections with the source of current, and auxiliary switches forindependently cut ting out the electric current from said sections atwill.

9. In an electrically heated garment, the combination of a body .partand limb sections, electric wiring carried by the body part and limbsections, the limb sections being removable, and means for'connectingthe body and limb sections together whereby to electrically connect thewires and whereby the respective sections constitute in effectcontinuations of the body part proper.

10. In an electric heating garment, the combination of a body part, limbparts and a hoodpart, each of'said parts having insulated heating wiresinterwoventherewith, means for detachably connecting said parts togetherto form a continuous garment, and means for simultaneously electricallyconnecting said wires of the respective parts when connected.

11. In an electric heating garment, the combination of a body part, legparts, arm partsand a hood part, all of said parts having insulatedheating coils, means for detachably connecting said parts together, andfor electrically connecting the wiring of said parts, and independentlyoperable switching devices for cutting out the electric current incertain of the parts at will.

12. In an electric heating garment, the

combination of a body part,.and one or more sections detachablyconnected therewith, said body part and sections having insulatedheating wire interwoven therewith, and means for detachably connectingsaid body part and sections to form a continuous garment, said meansconstituting the electric connection between the wires of the respectiveparts.

13. In an electric heating garmentfthe combination of a body part, andone or more detachable limb sections, said body part and sections havinginsulated heating wire interwoven therewith, the body part and saidsections having interengaging plugs and sockets constituting connectingmeans for the section and also constituting means for connecting thewiring of said sections.

14. In an electric heating garment, the combination of a body part, andone or more detachable limb sections, said body part and sections havinginsulated heating wire interwoven therewith, the body part and saidsections having interengaging ,plugs and sockets constituting connectingmeans for the body part and sections and also constituting means forconnecting the wiring of said sections, and an independently operableswitch at the point of connection of the respective sections,substantially as and for

